


crossed souls

by Blueberry51



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Goblet of Fire AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-03-18 00:25:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13670439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberry51/pseuds/Blueberry51
Summary: A goblet of Fire AU where Hermione and Fleur are destined to be together.I know this type of stories is quite common but give it a shot, maybe you will be surprised





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, this my fic about Hermione and Fleur falling in love with each other. Setting during the goblet of fire.  
> There is not a lot of story about these two, it's a shame really that's why I decide to write something, do not hesitate to criticize my work if you think there's a need of it, this is my first fic and I really want to approve.
> 
> I apologized in advance for any mistakes in the text, English is not my first language.

Hermione Granger hated quidditch, she never quit get why people were so enthusiastic about a game where balls can throw you in the ground, hurting you or why taking the risk at flying so high in the sky while you can stay perfectly safe in the ground (not that being best friend with Harry Potter actually guaranty that, quite the opposite in fact) and don’t even get her started on the violence between players.

  
So, when Ron invited her to the Mondial quidditch cup alongside his family and Harry, she wasn’t fond of the idea of going. She would rather spend that time at reading nor complete her, already quite long, essays for the next year. But her parents, who cannot get the chance to see a game, convince her to attend, among the fact that it wasn’t every day that you can watch the final.

  
When she arrives to the burrows, the boys where playing outside and Mr. Weasley started to interrogate her on muggle technology, even if it was the fifth time she was giving an explanation on how a TV worked (she got the feeling that she would be obliged to repeat herself quite often during the rest of the summer). Mrs. Weasley saved her to having to answer the question “but how muggles can use that little box to talk to each other”? and sent her bring her stuff in Ginny’s room.

  
She didn’t really know the younger girl, having talked only a few times since to her since she started Hogwarts in Hermione second year. Ginny was shy and doesn’t open to a lot of people, her possession by Voldemort, which resulted on she reopens the chamber of secrets, was the direct cause of it. So, it was a rather pleasant surprised when she entered the bedroom to find Ginny’s waiting for her with a beaming smile on her face.

  
“Hey Hermione, how’s your summer being so far?” asked the enthusiastic younger girl

  
“Quite well thank you, and yours?”

  
“Oh y’know, still the same, explosion in the twin room’s, Ron being a prat and Percy shushing everyone who dares make the stairs squeak… At least I have Bill and Charlie to keep me company” explains Ginny  
“I see! Didn’t Percy starts working at the ministry this summer?”

  
“Yeah but I warn you, if you don’t wanna listen to his rambling about cauldron for hours you better avoiding him, we all do”

  
“I’ll try remember that!” say an amused Hermione. “Anyway, do you know when Harry’s coming?” Hermione notice the slight blush who appears on Ginny’s cheeks at the mention of her dark-haired friend, not everything changes she thinks for herself, she promised to try and help Ginny getting less awkward in Harry’s presence over the summer.

  
“Huh dad didn’t tell you?”

  
“Nah he was asking me questions about muggles things when your mom interrupted him and sent me brought me things here”

“Ah, I’m not surprised, he was overjoyed when he learned that Harry and you were coming here this summer, I swear, I thought that after the ministry inquest on the flying car two years ago would calm him down a little but no, his obsession for muggles things is still getting stronger!” the red-haired girl replayed, laughing. “And to answer your question, Him, Ron, Fred and George are going to get him in his relatives’ house at the end of the week”

Hermione was about to ask how they were getting him, knowing perfectly the disgust the Dursley felt toward anything that wasn’t perfectly “normal” when the bedroom door flew open and an excited boy entered screaming “Mione! You finally here!” and then processed to hug her as a greeting, well more a new strangulation technique than a hug really but the boy wasn’t knowing for his calm and reserve behavior.

“Ron let me go” laughing Hermione, “I can’t breathe!”

  
“Sorry” said the young boy when he released her “I’m just happy you arrived, blimey the summer without you and Harry around is boring, plus you can help me with my homework now”  
“Homework’s really the first thing you ask to Hermione? Ronald you’re unbelievable!” exclaims Ginny,  
“Relax I’m just kidding, y’know that Mione huh?” asked Ron, a little worried to have vexed her,

  
“Yes, Ron I know” reassured the brunette, “and when you finish your essays, I agreed to check them if you want”

  
“And this is why I love you” replayed Ron

  
“Don’t push your luck!” laugh Hermione.

  
Discussion between the three teenagers last till’ Mrs. Weasley called them to help setting the table for dinner, with Ron et Ginny’s older brothers home they were obliged to eat outside. Once in the yard they assisted to a table fight between Charlie and Bill. Hermione understood rather quickly that even though Bill worked in Gringotts he wasn’t at all an older clone of Percy (to her relieved, yes, she was usually fond of respecting the rules but even her thought Percy’s being annoying more often than not). As for Charlie, he was working with dragons in Romania, hence the burning scars in his arms and his relax attitude.  
The rest of the week passed quickly, between long discussion about everything and anything with Ginny (who was starting to become, to her utter joy, a really good friend), gently chastised Ron about his homework while helping him, avoiding eating anything the twins present her and having long conversation with Bill and Charlie about goblins, curses and dragons.

  
Soon, it was time to get Harry, Mr. Weasley decide to use the floo network, despite Hermione objection about the idea, Mr. Weasley was still convinced that the Dursley couldn’t hate magic this much.  
Hermione and Ginny where in the younger girl bedroom’s when they hear laugh coming from downstairs. When they arrived in the kitchen, it was to the sight of the boys laughing about a candy Harry cousin’s eats, which result in his tongue getting a few feet long in the time Harry arrived in the Burrow.

  
When the young boy saw Hermione and Ginny he beamed at them, causing Ginny to turn in interesting shade of red. Despite Hermione encouragement, it seems the red-haired girl still has some trouble being herself around Harry. The four teens run away when Mrs. Weasley starts shooting at the twins for their inventions (they know better than to stay around whenever Mrs. Weasley gets angry, especially at the twins) and found refuge in Ron’s bedroom. They only came back after the scream had stopped.

  
The evening passed nicely and, shortly, they were sent to bed making sure they were resting to attend the Quidditch cup the next day. Mrs. Weasley waking up very early everyone who couldn’t apparate directly in the camping. After a long march and a rather unpleasant discussion with Amos Diggory, Cedric’s father (Cedric was a seventh year attending at Hogwarts in Hufflepuff) they arrived in front of an old, relatively disgusted looking boot.

  
While everyone crouches and touches it, Hermione and Harry stay up, watching the scene with confused faces. It was when Mr. Weasley tells them to hurry and touching the old boot too that Hermione released it was a porkey, a wizard object charmed to permitting people to cover long distance without having to use the floo nor to apparate.

  
The travel was not enjoyable but a least they were arrived at the camping entry. A muggle was giving indication on everyone’s location in his property, but they shortly notice his curiosity towards the strange people surrounding him. Harry must make sure Mr. Weasley finds his way with muggle money and soon they were off to their own location.

  
The place was full of wizards attending with their family or with friends. In Hermione opinion, the tents looked weird, some were most alike a marquee than an actual tent. Once in their emplacement, they start to set up their own tents. To Hermione et Harry’s amazement, while they were looking too small to fetch all of them, the inside was, in fact, the size of an apartment.

  
Whereas Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and Ginny were in charge to set up a fire and start making breakfast, Hermione, Harry and Ron were sent off to find some water. On their way they meet with a lot of their Hogwarts’s friends, like Seamus Finnigan, his mother and Dean Thomas, Harry and Ron’s roommate and Seamus best friend. They were cheering for Ireland (a fact which didn’t need a precision with Ireland colors decorated their, and everyone else nearby, tent). Bulgarian tents on the other hand were decorated with the seeker team’s face, who was, apparently, Ron idol’s.

  
While they were waiting to get some water, Hermione has to step aside to avoid laughing out loud because of an old wizard who thinks that the better-looking muggle clothe was a woman nightdress and refused to get changed.

  
She was so distracted that she didn’t notice the girl walking in her direction before landing quite forcefully on the ground.

  
“Oh mon dieu, je suis désolée je ne t’avais pas vu, ça va? Tu ne t’es pas fait mal? » asked the sunniest girl Hermione has ever seen (with that kind of thought she really did starts to question her sexuality), she was tall, with long silver blond hair and streaking blue eyes. She didn’t know if it the shock of the landing or the girl herself, but Hermione was in the impossibility to respond anything except:

  
“Huh?”

  
“Ah zut tu ne dois pas parler français” starts muttering the girl “I am zorry, I didn’t see you, are you okay?”

  
“Yeah, yeah, I, I’m fine th-thank you” succeed to answers Hermione, she was feeling her cheeks grew hot under the intense stare of the girl. She tried to get up only to find a hand in front of her face and the girl saying:

  
“Mais où sont passées mes bonnes manières, ‘ere let me ‘elp you” starts rambling the French girl in front of her.

  
“Th-thanks”, god the stuttering mess the girl caused her to become was really embarrassing thought the brunette.

  
When their hands touch, Hermione feels like her magic was reacting to the girl, she looked the taller girl in the eyes and she notices, during the briefest of moment, that her eyes weren’t blue anymore but purple (it was so sudden, she was certain she had imagined it).

  
“My name iz Fleur Delacour and you?” the girl, no Fleur, asks smiling at her.

  
“Hermione Granger and it is I who is sorry for earlier, I wasn’t looking where I was going” she suddenly realized that she was not feeling awkward in Fleur’s presence anymore and could form normal sentences, “weird” she thought for herself.

  
“It iz nice to meet you ‘Ermione Granger, and don’t worry it ‘appened” replayed the blond, looking amused, “I supposed you are ‘ere for the final too, which team are you cheering for?”

  
“None, I am not really a Quidditch fan, my friends on the other hand are mostly for Ireland, you?”

  
“Ireland too, c’est amusant that you attend if you don’t like Quidditch”

  
“My friends convince me, say that I couldn’t missed that”

  
“I agree wiz zat” hummed the French witch, she was about to add something when they heard Hermione name’s being called, looking around she realized Harry and Ron had finished getting water and it was time for her to return to her camp.

  
“I see you ‘ad to go, mayhaps we can see each ozer again?” asked Fleur, with look like hope in her eyes “my camp iz nearby ze entry of ze forest, you can’t miss my tent, it’s standout compare to the others around”

  
“Yeah, I would love that, I will definitely stop by tomorrow before leaving” answers Hermione, quite shock the other witch wanted to see her again.

  
“Génial! I can’t wait” respond Fleur with enthusiasm and, before Hermione could respond, Fleur kissed her in the cheeks “au revoir ‘Ermione, à demain!” and then left.

  
Hermione stood in stupor with her cheeks burning and she watches the other girl leaving until she hears Ron’s voice

  
“Blimey Mione’ who was that?”

  
“I’m not quite sure yet… Anyway, let’s go back to the camp, your father is probably waiting for us”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translation:
> 
> mais où sont passées mes bonnes manières ? - it is a french expression which basically meant : But where are my good manners?  
> Ah zut tu ne dois pas parler français - damn you probably don't speak french  
> c'est amusant - it's funny  
> génial - awesome  
> au revoir, à demain - goodbye, see you tomorrow
> 
> thank you for reading, I will try to post the next chapter shortly


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Quidditch world cup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here the next chapter, thank you all for your support toward the previous one.  
> Once again, I apologize in advance for the mistakes in the text.
> 
> Enjoy!

Once they get back to their camp Harry had to show Mr. Weasley how to use matches (and, more importantly, make sure he didn’t set the camping in fire). Then, they started making breakfast. Bill, Charlie and Percy arriving soon after.

Afterward, Mr. Weasley started to tell them stories about the ministry, to Hermione and Harry great interest especially regarding the “unspeakable”, they worked in the ministry but couldn’t tell anyone what they were doing. Mr. Weasley children’s, in the other hand, had heard these stories quite often and soon started to distract themselves by talking about the final. 

Despite her entertainment regarding anything concerning politic, Hermione soon realized her thought always returns to the French witch she met earlier. it was surprising, she wasn’t the king of girl who couldn’t focus because of another person. At some point, she was so completely lost in her mind thinking about the previous meeting and how she will visit Fleur the next day that she didn’t realized another wizard had joined them. 

He was quite pompous and Hermione dislike him right away. She noticed Percy was trying hard to get the older wizard attention by giving him tea and explain to him that he has already finished his rapport regarding cauldron. She understood the man was probably Mr. Crouch, the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Percy’s boss.

Mr. Weasley introduced him to anyone present, he stares quite rudely at Harry forehead when he hears the young boy name. When he hears Hermione name’s and registers she was a muggleborn, she notices a quick flicker of disdain in his eyes before he returns his attention toward Mr. Weasley. He left shortly after having heard the Bulgarian delegation was causing trouble.

Hermione wanted to ask question about Mr. Crouch thought toward muggleborns (after all didn’t the point of cooperation meant you have to support every single person despite their blood status?), but with Harry, Ron and Ginny begging her to go with them buy some souvenirs she decided to drop the subject for now. 

She was again amazed by the things magic could create and, along the others, buy a lot of stuff to remembering that day. Ginny and Ron try to make her purchase a hat with Bulgarian colors but choose instead an Ireland one (no that has nothing to do with the fact the French witch cheered for them).

The rest of the day passed quickly and soon it was time to go and get their seats for the game. Mr. Weasley succeed to get them VIP pass, they were in the official loge alongside the ministry of magic and others important people. Harry confound an House elf with Dobby, but the little creature corrects him.

“I is Winky young mister, how do you know Dobby?” sayed Winky, her face hiding behind her hands

“I’m Harry, Harry Potter. Dobby is my friend, I released him from his previous masters”

“Harry Potter, Dobby often mention young mister, you didn’t help him by offering him freedom, no, no, Dobby wants to be payed now Harry Potter” exclaimed the little creature, looking rather horrified with only the mere idea of wanting to be paid

“But… it is normal to want to be paid, no?” said Hermione

“Oh no young miss, house elves serve their masters till’ their death and are not paid, we had to obeyed them, and we are happy to do it. I is afraid of height, but my master asks me to keep him a seat, so I do that, oh yes I do” replied Winky, piking in the view in front of her and, after released a little squeak, hide again.

Harry looked furious at that. “How come your master asks you to do that if you’re afraid of height? It is cruel!”

“Mr. Crouch is not a cruel man Harry Potter, Winky is lucky to serves him!” retorted Winky “now young mister should look in front of him, the game will start quickly”

Understanding the dismiss, Harry, Ron and Hermione peering around them and noticed the loge was quite full now. Unfortunately, the Malfoys were there too, and Hermione had to restrained Ron to avoid him breaking Draco’s nose after the little git made a rude comment on the Weasleys family.

“But Mione’ it isn’t fair you did it last year” whined the red-haired boy

“Yes, but as far as I remembered we weren’t surrounded by ministry officials who could lock you up for it!” replied the brunette

Ron doesn’t get the time to respond, the mascot of the Bulgarian team enters. They were probably the most beautiful women everyone has ever seen. They, strangely, remembered Hermione of Fleur. She saw the boys starting drooling and the girls looking with anger and jealousy in their eyes but to her surprised, she seems unaffected by the women.

Her and Mr. Weasley had to stop Ron from jumping from the loge to a certain death, and once everyone calmed down after the impressive display of the Ireland mascots, Hermione asks what was the magic the women used to make almost everyone react so strongly to them.

“They’re veelas Hermione, not humans” explained Mr. Weasley, “they are magical creatures who had similar powers to the sirens. They attire men with their unnatural beauty, it is called a thrall, and repulsed women with it. Not a lot of thing is known about them beside that, and the fact teenagers react more strongly to them than adults, hence Ron behavior”

“If teenagers are so predisposed to fall to their thrall, why wasn’t I affected by it?” inquired Hermione, puzzled.

“I am not sure, people with strong will can resist it, it is probably yours and Harry’s case, didn’t you notice? He wasn’t attracted to them either”. Replied Mr. Weasley

“Yeah… Probably”. She wasn’t convinced it was the only explanation, after all Harry reacts to them too, he just got his senses back before he raises from his seat (she saw him clutches his seat when the women enter).

Her thought was soon distracted by the entry of the quidditch teams. After the second crashed of the Ireland’s seeker she decides to imitate Winky and hide behind her hands, peeking time to time to see the progression of the game. Viktor Krum, the Bulgaria’s seeker, ended the game by catching the snitch, unluckily for him, Ireland wins the game and the cup thanks to the incredible worked of the chasers.

On their way back to the camp, they come across of partying Irish. Mr. Weasley allowed them to stay up late, reviving the game or simply enjoying the atmosphere. They were sent to bed when Ginny starts dozing off. Despite her current state of exhaustion, Hermione had a hard time falling asleep, she was replaying the day in her head, a blond woman invading her thought once more.

She was waking up with a start when she hears shooting, but it wasn’t screams of victory like earlier, but more screams of terror. Her assumptions proved to be correct when Mr. Weasley enters hers and Ginny’s tent, telling them to dress quickly and join the others outside (yes something was definitely wrong thought Hermione).

Once outside, they noticed people running away, clearly terrified.

“Dad, what’s going on?” asked Ginny

“You have to run and hide in the woods too, we are under attack” answered Mr. Weasley

“Who’s attacking? Why can’t we help?” pressed Harry

“No time for questions Fred, George watch Ginny, the others you absolutely have to stay together and hide”

“But…” argued Ron

“No but, Go!”

Hermione takes the boys arms and rans to the woods, a tent exploded near them, allowed them to see a group of people hiding under masks marching in the middle of the camp, setting tents in fire and tried to hex everyone they seen.

“What the hell” exclaimed Harry “Who are they?”

“You hear Mr. Weasley, no time for questions we have to go!” replied the brunette, tried to force him to continue,

“But look they have the director of the camping and his family suspended above them! We have to do something!”

“Are you kidding? Don’t you see they are probably death eaters? We can’t do nothing against them, plus if they found Hermione they are going to hurt her, we need to go Harry” exclaimed Ron “Yes, it is disgusting and awful but there is nothing we can do” added the red-haired boy when he sees Harry wanted to argue.

“I agree with Ron, Harry come on we already have loosed the others!” Hermione wanted to fight as well but realized that three fourteen years old against adults determined to create chaos couldn’t hold their own, and if Ron was correct and they were indeed death eaters then Harry was in great danger, the necessity of finding a refuge was becoming really urgent. 

Harry reluctantly began to walk again but their argument had made them lost time, and before any of them could react a hex sent by one of the men under the masks almost hit them, sending them to the ground. The man determinedly made his way towards the three teenagers, wand raised but before he could send another curse he was hit by a spell which makes him fall backwards, unconscious.

“How…” began Ron before being interrupted by a voice coming from behind them

“What ze three of you still doing ‘ere? Why are you not ‘iding?” a very familiar and panic voice shooted

“Fleur!” said a relieved Hermione “Why you’re not hiding either?”

“Je suis majeure, I can fight them, but zis iz not ze point, we need to go, maintenant!” pressed the French witch.

The four of them heads off to the woods, Fleur sending hexes or using protection spells when needed. They stop running once they were sheltered by the trees to catch their breath.

“Thanks for saving us, but what were you doing in this place? Didn’t your camp’s far from here?” inquired Hermione

The older girl shrugged, “I wanted to see if I could ‘elp, all my neighbors ‘ad already found a refuge and I ‘ad the feeling that I needed to go ‘ere” before Hermione could say something, she added “we can’t stay ‘ere, we are to clause to the entry, we need to get going” she takes Hermione hand and began following the dark path, dragging the younger girl with her.

Oddly, the brunette felt quite safe now, and realized with stupor she had feeling that way the moment the French witch rescued them from the mask man. Plus, she wasn’t uncomfortable holding Fleur’s hand, it was weird too, she usually wasn’t a fan of prolonged contact with other people. She noted her thought had drift once again (it was becoming recurrent since she had had met the older girl) when she realized Harry was beside her and was talking to Fleur.

“Thanks again, you saved us. I’m Harry by the way and the drooling boy is Ron” said the dark-haired boy while they were sinking into the forest.

“What? I do not drool Harry” a very indignant and red Ron responded

“My name’s Fleur, nice to meet you” laughed the blonde, she grew serious again and used a lumos with a quick flick of her wand “I zink ze three of you need to also a Lumos too, it iz really dark in ‘ere”

Ron and Hermione followed the French witch example immediately while Harry was seeking for his wand in his pockets.

“Guys wait I can find my wand!” panicked the young boy “I have to go back, it probably falls off my pocket when the man attacks us”

Fleur quickly grab him by the arm and yank him forward, “Non! You cannot take zat risk, returning zere will be suicide”

“But I can do nothing without it!” said Harry, jerking his arm free from the blonde hold.

“It doesn’t matter, we are three wiz a wand, and ‘ere we are not in immediate danger, which will not be ze case if you return! You’ll find it when it will be over”

Suddenly, they heard a noise, as if someone was staggering towards them. Fleur grab Hermione by her jumper and pull her behind, placing herself between the younger witch and the noise, wand raises. She also counselled their lumos, leaving them almost in the complete dark.

“Who’s…” started Ron

“Chut! Ne fais pas de bruit, we don’t know if it iz an enemy or not” whispered the blond.

The noise stops, and even though they couldn’t see anything clearly, they were under the impression a shadow was moving not far from them, and it halted its movement upon hearing Ron’s voice. Long seconds passed while they didn’t even dare to breath, they just stare at the place where they think the shadow stops.

Sharply a man voice shoot “morsmordre” and a huge green form was sent above the forest, the form turning rapidly in a giant like green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, illuminating the entire forest. Screams began resonated around them, and they saw a man running away where the shadow had been. Panic take over and people start trying to get away the fastest they could.

“What…” began Harry, he was soon interrupted by both witch, Ron looking too shock to say anything.

“C’est la marque des ténèbres, il faut partir vite!” said a completely scared Fleur

“Come on Harry, it’s the Dark Mark, it’s His mark!” added a very white Hermione   

“Voldemort’s Mark…? But how…?”

“Not now, hurry!”

But before they could go away the woods erupted with the sounds of appearing wizards, the group sending spells in their direction, they just had the time to duck before the first spell hit the trees around them.

“Stop! Stop right now this is my son and his friends” screamed Mr. Weasley

“It didn’t matter who they are Arthur! They created the Dark Mark” explained Amos Diggory “we have to arrest them”

Mr. Weasley turned bright red with rage and retorted “Have you lost your mind? This is Harry Potter! Do you really think he would cast it? He doesn’t even know how to do it”.

Mr. Crouch walked towards the teens, looking rather dubious. “Really? Then how do you explained the fact that they are in the exact place where the cursed had been casted?”

Harry step forward and explained to the ministry represent that a man was besides a tree and it was him who had made the Dark Mark.

“A man? And where is that man now Mr. Potter?” replied Crouch

“He just told you, he ran away as soon as he cast it” interfered Mr. Weasley.

“Convenient isn’t it?”

Harry prepared himself to argue again with the man when Mr. Diggori steps in, “I will go check if there is not a proof, after all Arthur is right, they’re children they can’t have done it”. It takes only a few seconds for Mr. Diggori to found, not only Harry’s missing wand but also the petrified corps of Winky, Crouch’s house elf.

To that point, the situation escalated shortly. Crouch, aided by a spell, showed it was indeed Harry’s wand which cast the curse. Leading him to returns against his own house elf and, despite her pleading to do not fired her and that it was not her who created the Dark Mark, he remained firm and gave her a cloth, releasing her in the process.

Hermione, upon seeing the injustice jerked away from Fleur tight grip on her jumper and moved forward, beginning to point out the incoherencies in his reasoning. (To say Crouch wasn’t happy about being questioning by a fourteen years old girl was a euphemism).

“And what a little muggleborn like you know about what I can or cannot do with my servitor? She disobeyed a direct order, it is my right to released her for it!” snarled the old man

“She disobeyed because she was scared! There is nothing wrong with that!” replayed the bushy-haired girl “And I might be a muggleborn but I, at least, know how to treat and respect others living beings, not like you, who thinks because you are a so-called pureblood you’re above anyone else!”

“How dare you speaking to me like that, miserable little mud…”  

A loud bang resonated in the woods before Crouch could end his sentence and then Fleur steps in front of Hermione, eyes flashed dangerously, the usual sky blue replaced by a striking purple, wand raises once again in defense of the younger girl. She said in a very low voice, barely above a whisper, and yet heard by everyone near the pair “Tried to insult ‘er ever again old fool and you will know what ze fury of a veela looks like”

Crouch turned a deep shade red and didn’t seemed to be able to reply anything. As for his colleagues, none of them had the will to interfere, the girl looking rather scary in the moment. Mr. Weasley took the opportunity and starts leading the teens away, but the French witch wasn’t moving, still in a staring contest with the man.

Hermione stand aside the older girl and put a hand in her forearm and tug at it “come on Fleur lets go, he is not worth it, please let’s go back to the camp”

The younger girl plea seems to reach the French witch, she slowly put her wand down and finally look away from Crouch, her gaze falling into the warm brown eyes of Hermione, who smiled shyly at her. Fleur took a deep breath and smiled back, her eyes turned blue again, then she takes the brunette hand in her own and walked away from the man. Crouch steps forward to stops them when Amos Diggori halted him.

“Enough, it had been a long night, we’re all exhausted, and we don’t need more paperwork because we arrest a French citizen, plus we have other pressing matters to attend to”.   

Crouch nodded and prepared to leave, saying “this is far from over half-breed” before apparate.

Fleur tightened her grip on Hermione’s hand and leading her away from the ministry officials. The walk back to the camp was silent, everyone was a little confused about the unexpected turn of event. Once reaching their tent, they realized Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins and Ginny were already there, waiting for them. The Weasleys and Harry rejoin them, while Hermione stays behind with Fleur.

“Thanks for protecting me against him, you didn’t have to, I hope I didn’t get you into too much trouble…” started the brunette, staring down at her feet, quite ashamed of herself to loosing her calm in the woods.

Fleur squeezed her hand reassuringly, “’Ermione look at me” she waits till’ the younger girl raised her head and lock her gaze with her own before pursuing, “Don’t worry, you didn’t get me into any troubles, you weren’t ze one out of line back zere, ze responsibility belongs to ze old man”. “And I will always protect you”, thought the older girl. 

“But I shouldn’t have provoked him like I did”

“Maybe, but you stood up on ze behalf of a creature who couldn’t do it ‘erself, even wiz ze knowledge zat ‘ouse elves are nozing but slaves for wizards, according to me, you were pretty brave”

The younger girl blushed and look away, she couldn’t hold Fleur’s earnest look. “what do you think will happened to Winky?”

The blonde sighed “’Onestly I don’t know, she will probably try to enter in ze service of another family”      

“But she will be a slave again!”

Fleur nodded, “oui, it is disgusting but zis iz ‘ow zings worked”. Feeling Hermione distress about the future of the little elf she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and hold her close to her “Je suis vraiment désolée, but zere iz nozing we can do now nor even before” she whispered in Hermione’s hear.

At first, Hermione tenses in Fleur’s arms, not expecting the gesture. But she soon relaxed into it, feeling perfectly safe and warm in the embrace, she rested her head in the older girl shoulder and lock her own arms around the French witch waist, the blonde words soothing her. Maybe she couldn’t do anything at the moment, but she will try to do something about it later.    

A sudden thought crosses her mind and before she couldn’t stop herself asked “why do your eyes turned purple sometimes?” and then processed to mentally kick herself for her insensitivity. Fleur sighed “I would razer talk about zat anozer time if it iz alright wiz you”

“Yes of course I’m sorry, I was out of place” replied the brunette,

Fleur tightened her hold and chuckles “Zere iz nozing to forgive, it iz normal to be curious”

They stay in each other embrace a little more but too soon Fleur pulls back. “I ‘ave to go back to my family zey are probably worried, I was gone a long time”

Hermione nodded, “thank you again for everything you’ve done for my friends and I tonight Fleur, it means a lot”

“You’re welcome” then the blonde starts chewing her bottom lip, looking unsure of herself, which surprised Hermione, Fleur was nothing but confident. “do you zink we can exchange letters in ze future? Only if you want obviously”

“I would love that, I stay in a place called the Burrows till’ the end of the summer then I will go back to Hogwarts, your owl should find me easily” beamed Hermione.

“Hogwarts? You’re intending at Hogwarts?” asked Fleur in bewilderment 

“Huh yes, why do you look so surprised by that ?” retorted Hermione

A huge smile appears on the other girl face, “you’ll see, anyway I will send you an owl shortly once I get ‘ome” then, like the last time, she kissed Hermione cheeks and added “au revoir Hermione, prends soin de toi” before apparate to rejoin her family.       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translation :
> 
> je suis majeure - I am of age  
> maintenant - now  
> chut - hush   
> Ne fais pas de bruit - stay quiet   
> c'est la marque des Ténèbres - this is the Dark Mark  
> il faut partir, vite - we must go, hurry  
> je suis vraiment désolée - I am very sorry  
> prends soin de toi - take care
> 
> Thank you for reading !


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little explanation about Veelas and their mates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! First I would like to thank you all for your comments and kudos! You guys are really amazing!
> 
> I am sorry for the delay, but classes were taking a lot of my time recently, I hope I will be able to update next week. 
> 
> Otherwise, one of you mentioned the fact that I should take a beta to proof reading my story and I think this is a great idea, so if anyone knows someone who will be willing to help me or how to find a beta I will be really thankfull for your help. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter, it's with Fleur's POV.

Fleur apparate right before her tent’s entry. Once inside, she barely has the time to make one step before her mother pulled her into a bone crushing hug. “Oh, darling, are you okay? Where were you?” exclaimed her mother, clearly upset about her daughter disappearance. 

“I am fine mom, I was helping someone, we’ve been delayed by people working for the ministry” responded calmly Fleur, while pulling back from her mother embrace to hug her little sister.

“You should have warned us! We were extremely worried!” scowled Apolline

“I know, I am sorry. Let me explain why I leave and you’ll understand my decision, I have great news to share with everyone!” said Fleur.

“Alright, but your news will have to wait till’ we got home. I am sorry, but we need to leave now. Help your little sister gather her things, then collect yours” explained Apolline

“Yes, but tell me, where is dad?” asked Fleur, her father was nowhere in sight and she was started to worry that something happened to him.

“Don’t worry, your father is fine, he is helping the French delegation arranged the return of the French citizens by portkey” reassured Apolline

After that, Fleur goes in her sister’s bedroom and helped her gather her things, while half-answering the hundred questions Gabrielle was asking, such as “but why did you leave? Who’s the someone you were helping? Did you fight against the bad men?”.

She decided to do not answering the questions regarding Hermione, it was wiser to wait till’ she could talk to her grand-mère and mother about the English witch but told her about the men she fought and the clash with Crouch, but without details, her sister was still young.

Once everything was put back in her sister’s trunk, Fleur sent her joined their mother in the living room while she headed to her bedroom, thoughts entirely turned toward Hermione.

She couldn’t believe it, she has found her mate! Yesterday she has doubts after parting with the English witch but now she was sur of it, Hermione was the one for her. After all, she would not have been able to sense Hermione fear when she was attacked by the masked men nor she would have been this angry when Crouch disrespected the younger witch if she wasn’t her mate.

Her family didn’t tell her much about Veela’s mate, except the fact they were the perfect match for their Veela, and nothing was considered as sacred as mate in their culture. She always tried to know more about them but her grand-mère refused.

According to her, Fleur being only quarter Veela means she couldn’t have a mate, her blood was too diluted and giving her too much information will only make her longing for something she could never have and prevent her to found happiness with another person.

But that affirmation never stopped Fleur hoping that one day, she too will have a mate to love and cherished. She dreamed about them most of her life and couldn’t wait to tell her family about Hermione. She just prays for not being wrong, she didn’t think she could bare the news that Hermione wasn’t her mate.

After gathering her things, she joined her family and waited for her father to come back. Her sister was fast asleep against their mother, who was reading a book. She seemed relax but Fleur could tell by the way she strengthened whenever a loud noise could be heard outside that her mother was extremely stressed, and worried for her husband. She felt a pang of guilt for scarring her family like she did.

She knew she should have warned them, but the moment she felt Hermione’s fear her instincts took over and she found herself at the opposite side of the camp, surrounding by people fighting and tents sent on fire. She thought she was about to have a heart attack when she noticed the man attacking the trio. Once again, she reacted without thinking.

It was odd, not that she wasn’t able to deal with the man in normal circumstances but the power she used to take him down was way stronger than her usual magical power. She just has to wave her wand to make him fly several meters away and knocking him down in the process. She didn’t even need to say the incantation out loud! She was wondering if her new-found mate was responsible for these changes.

A sudden high-pitched scream emanating from her sister pulled her out of her thought, startling her and making her jump from the couch where she was currently lying, wand raised and ready to fight the intruder. Then, she heard a chuckle and she registered that the intruder was, in fact, her father. She lowered her wand and joined the family embrace.

“Dad! You finally here! I was starting to worry!” exclaimed Fleur

“Don’t you think I should be the one saying that?” Laughed Robert, “You were gone without warning!”

“I know, as I said to mom I had a good reason, I will explain everything once we return home” responded the blond witch.

“Alright, but this is the last time you disappear like that, especially in a situation of great danger like last night, understood?” grumbled her father.

“Yes papa, I am so sorry” said Fleur, lowering her head, ashamed of having worried her family.

Her father hugging her, proving that he wasn’t mad. “Well, now that we’re all reunited, it is time to leave. Did you gather all your stuff? Then let’s go!”

They were the first using a portkey to returned home, that was the perks of working for the government thought Fleur. Once in the Delacour manor, Fleur’s mother sent Gabrielle to bed.

Because it was the middle of the night and Fleur wanted to talk to her grand-mère as well as her parents, they agreed to wait till’ the morning to have their conversation. They decided to get some rest, events of the night having worn them off.

It takes only a few minutes for Fleur to doze off, the memory of holding her mate in her arms and the feeling of being finally whole lulling her to sleep.

She wakes up a few hours later, her heart longing for the English witch. She wanted nothing more than to hold her mate, and to learn everything she could about her. She knows who Hermione Granger is, after all Harry Potter and his best friends, as well as their adventures, were well known in the magical world even in France. Their adventures are probably the reason why they succeeded pretty well to hide their fear in the forest. She had been surprised that they had not ran off in every direction when the Dark Mark appeared in the sky.

She headed toward the kitchen and was surprised to see her family gathered in the kitchen, minus Gabrielle, after having been through the horror of last night that was not surprising, her little sister needed to recover.

“Morning everyone, did you sleep well?” Asked the young witch.

“Yes, and you sweetie? We called your grandmother, she should be here soon” answered her mother.

“Great, I can’t wait anymore, you’ll never believe what had happened to me last night!” said Fleur, overexcited.

“Well, someone seemed really excited this morning” said a voice coming from behind Fleur.

Hearing her grand-mère voice, Fleur jump from her seat and hugged the older woman, “Grandma, I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too darling, now someone could tell me why it was absolutely necessary I came here first thing in the morning?”

“You already know about the events that take place last night, and… Well, Fleur disappear for a while, she wanted to tell us why she left” answers Apolline.

“Again, I am sorry, but I had to go, my mate was in danger!” claimed Fleur, defending herself

Shoot of surprised erupted after her exclamation, and seeing her family starting to protest about the fact that she could not have a mate, she explains to them everything that had happened in the world cup.

She started by her meeting with Hermione, resulting to sense strange, foreign feelings who didn’t belong to her, then to be under the impression that her mate was in great danger during the attack of the masked men, the fact she could apparate right where her mate was, the powerful magic she used to take the man down, and finally, the feeling of longing she was currently experimented.

The expression on her family faces changes progressively during her story, passing from dubious to shock and finally awe. Her parents wanted to know if it was possible for her to have a mate, to answer that, her grand-mère asked Fleur to close her eyes and to think hard about Hermione, and then to recall the sentiment she experiment when she saw the man attacking the trio.   

At this, a low, menacing growl emanating from Fleur, making the other persons in the kitchen chuckle, then Louise told her to open her eyes, which resulted with gasp of surprised from her family.

“What? What’s happening?” asked a confuse Fleur.

“Your eyes are purple, it means you really found your mate and your Veela powers had started to appear!” responded an overjoyed Louise.

Her parents and her grand-mère hugged her, extremely pleased with the news. “Alright my little Fleur, I will explain everything you need to know about this situation, it might take a while though, so eat your breakfast and in the meanwhile, I will advertise the Veela’s council about your new-found powers” said Louise.

“How long will you be gone?” asked Fleur, eager to know more about the Veela and especially her connection to Hermione.

“An hour maybe a little more, but don’t be impatient, you will know everything, I promise you that”.

To spend the time while waiting, Fleur helped her parents cleaned the kitchen and then goes to her room to put back the stuff she took with her at the cup in their original places. She noticed that, sometimes, she could feel a sudden emotion, like amusement or another feeling which didn’t belong to her.

When she realizes this, she sat on her bed and tried to focus on it. The weird thing is, whenever she feels like she’s getting closer from it the more the feeling goes away, to came back only when she released her focus. Just when she got the hold of it, she was tackled on her bed and a voice screamed “Fleur! Grand-mama is here! She asked me to fetch you! She said you had found your mate, this is awesome!”

“Gabi! How many time did I need to tell you to do not jump on me like that?” Laughed Fleur, “And yes I have found my mate, she is the person I went to help last night”.

“What? You met her last night? And you didn’t tell me right away? Why?” pouted her little sister.

“Because I wasn’t sure, I needed confirmation from grand-mère, now come, she had some explanation to give me” explained Fleur, while grabbing her little sister’s hand and pulled her toward the living room. Once there she found her grand-mère and her aunt sat with her parents on the couch.

“Gabrielle, go play outside, we need to talk to Fleur, but you are a little too young to hear everything” said their mother.

“But it is not fair! I wanna know to!” whined the young girl.

“And you will, but when you will be older” responded Apolline

“But…”

“No but young lady, this is really an important matter that cannot wait” said their father.

“What about you go outside now and I’ll play with you the rest of the day once I’m done here?” suggested Fleur.

“Really? You’ll do that? Pinky promise?” beamed Gabrielle.

“Yes, I promise” chuckle Fleur while intertwined her pinky with her little sister’s.

“Cool! I’ll wait outside then, don’t take too long” said Gabrielle, headed toward the door.

Her aunt gets up and hugged her then saying, “Bonjour Fleur, congratulation on finding your mate, Louise told me everything. I thought you don’t mind if I was here too to give you some information”.

“Non, I do not mind, so, when can I tell Hermione that she is my mate? Maybe we can go back in England this week? She told me where she was staying!” responded an overexciting Fleur.

The adults in the room laughed at the sudden excitement of the usual stoic girl. “Unfortunately, you will have to wait before telling her anything” said her grand-mère.

“What? But why? I thought at the second a Veela meet her mate she could told her? I only wait because you always said I will never have one?” whined Fleur, really disappointed.

Her grand-mère sigh, “I know sweetheart and that would be part of the explanations, Gabrielle will know about our culture too, in case she also found her mate. I do not want to make the same mistake twice, and I need to apologize for keeping you in the dark during all these years”.

“There is no need for an apology, we weren’t supposed to have one after all…” reassured Fleur.

“Thank you, but I can guarantee you that the council will reform its rules about non-telling a part Veela all she needs to know about our culture. But this is a discussion for another time, I believe you’d rather ‘ear about your mate?” said Louise, smirking. Her smile grew wider at the enthusiastic nod of her granddaughter. “ _If spending only a few hours with her mate make her this open I cannot wait to see what kind of person my little Fleur will become once they’ll be reunited and actually be together”,_ thought her grand-mother.

“The first you need to know, and this is the more important of all, is we do not instantly tell a non-Veela mate what they are for us. You need to understand, our culture is different from humans, we know immediately they are the one for us but, even if they feel a pull toward us, they do not understand it. We need to let them conclude everything by themselves. If not, you risk to scared Hermione away before you had a chance to be with her.

Humans, especially if they are young, tend to be overwhelmed by our love. They have trouble coming to term with the fact that they won’t be able to be happy with anyone else but us, and that we are their soulmate. It happened before, some humans reject their Veela because they think we manipulated them or forced them to love us. They thought we ‘ad taken away their free will.”

“How am I supposed to tell her then? I don’t want to scare her! Are you saying that I need to stay away from her till she figured out everything?” panicked Fleur, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

“Do not fret, I said you need to be cautious, not that you need to stay away from her. You can’t just go to her house and tell her that she is your mate even if you really want to. As for the “figuring everything by herself” part, know that we have books on Veela culture and you can lend them to her. They will give her small pieces of information which will help her understand the situation. Once she finished the books you will be allowed to tell her that she is your mate, but you need to let her come to you with questions about it before doing so.     

However, telling her that she is your mate doesn’t mean you will be in a partnership right away. Every single action regarding your link must be made by her. Our mates are the most precious thing to us, and because of this, we need to let them evolve in the partnership at their own pace. Do you understand? If she doesn’t wish to be in a relationship with you right away, you will accept it and only be a friend to her” warned Louise.

“Yes, I understand, I will never force her to do anything she didn’t agreed to. I have a question though, aren’t we supposed to die if we are not with them in a romantic way?” worried Fleur.

“Ah! This is the most misunderstood information about us!” responded her aunt, “we do not die if our mates decide to remain friends with us. Also, you need to know that only a complete rejection from our mates cause a deep depression for us, which can lead to our death. But as long as we have them in our life, in one way or another, we live.”

“So, if she refused the partnership in its entirety, will I be able to find another love?” asked Fleur.

“Yes and no, veelas are creature of love, and once we find it we will never be able to fall in love with another person than our mate. We will care about the other in the most of our abilities, but it will never be the same level of love that we felt for our mate. Usually, if a Veela couldn’t be with her mate in a romantic way, she decides to stay single, it is not fair for the other person after all” continued her aunt, “However, if you do not want to spend your life alone, you still have the possibility to be with another Veela whose mate didn’t want to be in a relationship with her as well.”

“I see, and what if she agreed to be in a relationship but brake up with me or die?”

“It will depend to which point of the partnership you’ll have reach. if it happened in the beginning you will feel a hole in your heart, like something is missing but you will be able to go on. But if its happened later, once the partnership is complete, it can be more dangerous for your health but not deadly. Death is not the same thing than a rejection. You will be depressed but eventually you will be able to overcome it.

We need to tell you about the different steps of the partnership and how the bond between you two will grow with its consequences. First, she needs to accept you as her Veela, as a friend or as a lover, the specificity do not matter for the beginning.

But the agreement cannot be a simple acceptance with only words, the both of you need to accomplish a ceremony, leading by the council, which will recognize you as mates. This doesn’t mean that you cannot dating her in the meanwhile, only that your statues as mates will not be official.

This part must be realized as soon as possible, your inner Veela will indeed feel extremely insecure and territorial towards your mate till her acceptance, and the more you wait the more your powers will be erratic. However, you will have a year or so before it became an urgent matter and need an intervention from the council, which will let you and especially your mate the time to come around the idea” explained her grand-mère.

“What kind of intervention are we talking about?” interrupted Fleur.

“The kind where the council will have to cut your bond before the wait kills you. If your mate still doesn’t accept you as her Veela in one year your inner Veela will take it as a complete rejection, and like we said earlier this can be deadly if we didn’t cut the bond. Do not worry though, a bond cut at this point will have the same consequences as a rupture in the beginning of the partnership.” Said Louise.

“I don’t like the idea of being tear apart from Hermione like that…” frowned Fleur, she found the idea barbaric, she didn’t want to be separated from her little mate in such way.

Her mother, seeing the distress in her daughter face hugged her, “don’t worry sweetie, we have to warned you, but the cases where a mate rejects its Veela are extremely rare, even when the mate is human” said Apolline softly while stroking Fleur’s hair.

“Your mother is right, acceptance almost never poses a problem” smiled her aunt, “so don’t worry about it right now”.

“We still need to explain to you the “evolution of your powers” part. Now that you have found your mate your magical power will increase significantly, you already noticed it when you defeat the man last night. The more your bond will grow the more you will be powerful. This change will be invisible, only you will be aware of it, so you need to be more careful now before using your magic, the results could be dangerous for the persons around you if you don’t.

Furthermore, you will experiment physical change, like when your eyes turned purple, this was the first step. They will change every time you feel angry, or in danger, you need to learn how to control it to avoid awkward situation. Also, even if you will not be able to change to a full Veela form as long as your bond is not complete, you can still change a little.

Your fingernails can turn into claws, your eyesight will improve considerably when you will use your Veela’s eyes, and your strength will increase. Of course, the control of your powers will take time, but we will teach you the basics before you go back to Beauxbaton, Madame Maxime can help you with the rest.” Explained her grand-mère.

“Which left us with the last part, how contact your mate. You said that she leaves in England, so you can exchange letters with her and then send her books about our culture. Of course, the ideal would be that you see her in person, but letters will do for the moment. Maybe we can arrange a meeting in December?” asked her aunt.

“Actually, I can see her in person during the school year, we don’t have to wait till December” responded Fleur.

“How come? If she is English, she probably goes to Hogwarts.” Said her grand-mère.

Fleur’s father interrupted before she could answer, “Fleur we already told you no about this! We don’t want you to participate to this barbaric competition!”

“But papa… It will be the perfect opportunity to spend time with Hermione” argued the blond witch, “plus nothing say I would be chosen to participate”.

“What are you two talking about?” asked her grand-mère.

“Hogwarts hosts the Triwizard Tournament, the school will compete against Beauxbaton and Dumstrang, only students who are off age can participate. Madame Maxime explained at the end of the last school year that all the students who want to enter the tournament will spend the next year studying in Hogwarts” replied Apolline.

“Than Fleur is right, this is perfect! She would be able to be close to her mate which means it would be easier for her to learn how to control her powers” said Louise.

“But the competition is extremely dangerous! People died in it! If she entered the tournament she could die!” argued Robert.

“The competition will be less dangerous for her than anyone else, with her new-found powers she will even have an advantage on her opponents in the case she is chosen” replied Fleur’s aunt. “Plus, we forget to mention it, but a Veela can feel the emotions of her mate and vice versa and be close to one another would allow them to learn how to put some barriers and don’t be overwhelmed by the feelings of the other. It can be complicated to do so if Fleur stayed in France”.      

“Robert, I think it is dangerous too, but we can say the same about keeping her away from her mate, plus my mother and sister are right, the closer she is to Hermione the better” Said her mother. “And do not forget, Madame Maxime will be there too, she will do her best to protect Fleur”.

“Papa please let me go, I promise I will be careful, but I really want to be able to answer every questions Hermione will ask me properly” begged Fleur.

“Fine… But do not take foolish risks to impress her, alright?” sighed her father.

“Oh, thank you papa!” exclaimed Fleur hugging him, “I swear I will not take inconsiderate risks, thank you! Can I go send a letter to Hermione or do you need to tell me something else regarding the partnership?”

“No, this is all for now, we will tell you what will happen next when Hermione accept you as her Veela. We prefer not saying to much in order to protect our secrets, which make me think, you cannot say anything about this conversation to anyone, except Hermione but only when she knows that she is your mate. Understood?” asked her grand-mère.

“Yes, I will not say anything” responded Fleur, while heading toward her bedroom.

“I cannot believe she found her mate, I really hope everything will be fine” said Robert.

“Neither I am” replied Apolline, “I am concerned about the age of her mate though, according to what Fleur said to us she cannot be older than fifteen, it is really young to accept a Veela”.

“Do not fret, she is young yes, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t mature enough to bond with Fleur” said Louise. “You should send a letter to Madame Maxime and explained her everything, she will be able to keep an eye on Fleur and guide her if she is lost”.

“You are right, and maybe to Dumbledore as well? I heard he is a friend of the Veela community in England, which means he knows about the partnership, he might be able to help if things went wrong?” Said Apolline.

“Yes, it would be for the best, I’ll send it as soon as I go home, I met him a few times in the past. I am fairly certain he will agree to help” replied Louise, while headed to the fireplace, “say goodbye to the girls for me, I will come back soon to start Fleur’s training”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you don't mind a chapter focusing entirely on Fleur, I thought it would be better to clarify some stuff at this point of the story rather than later. Next chapter will be with Hermione POV again. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little focus on what's going on in Hermione side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> First, I really want to thank you all for the comments and kudos, it means a lot to me! 
> 
> Here the new chapter, it is with Hermione POV. Sorry again for any mistakes in the text.

Hermione closed her book with a huff, it wasn’t today that she would be able to finish her essay for Snape! He was already an ass the previous years, but since the incident in the shrieking shack it looks like his only purpose in life was to make Harry (and with him all Gryffindors) even more miserable than usual, while the Slytherins get away with personal help every week-end.

Luckily for her, she had taken some advance during the summer, so she wasn’t completely drowned by the amount of work compared to her other classmates. She decided to put aside her current homework and pursuing the last book Fleur has sent her.

She had a hard time believing how well she was getting on with the French witch, Ginny aside, she usually didn’t have female friends, she was polite with her dormmates, but they never get along well. Lavender and Parvati were too different from her, they spent their time giggling about boys or talking about makeup, while Hermione preferred studying or was busing keeping Harry and Ron alive.

But since the world cup, two months ago, she has exchanged letters with Fleur weekly, and she was surprised to see how serious the blonde witch was about her studies, just as much as she was, and most of their conversations were turning around it. But they were also talking about everything and nothing and never seemed to get tired of each other. Hermione found herself waiting with impatience the French witch letters, and with them the books that the Veela has made a habit to send her.

Fleur has confirmed to her that she was indeed a Veela, and in response to Hermione questions has sent some books about her culture, as it was impossible to find any useful information on Veelas at Hogwarts! The books were fascinating, she couldn’t believe how little was known about them, and was amazed by the amount of trust Fleur was putting on her by giving her access to this knowledge.

She has found in the French witch a dearest friend, who challenged her on subjects she thought she has mastered a long time ago or pushed her to go further in her research, but Fleur was also caring and attentive too, she never failed to give Hermione advices or cheered her up every time she needed it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud, when she looked up from her book she saw Ron, “hey ‘Mione whatcha reading? It’s been a while since I saw you!” said the red headed boy rather loudly.

Hermione sent a quick look of apologizing in response of Mrs. Pince glare, “speak lower Ron you’re in the library! I am reading a book Fleur’s sent me” shushed Hermione.

“Sorry, and again? Between Harry, who spent his time doing his potion homework and you who is reading all the time I have the impression that we don’t spend time together anymore” pouted Ron.

“Harry does his homework to avoid being put in detention like the first week, remember that? I don’t think he wants to clean all the cauldron with a toothbrush again!” responded the brunette, ignoring the remonstrance about her reading too much, she was used to it after all. “And you’d better do yours too, or you’ll be in trouble!”

“Oh yeah, poor dude that was an awful thing to do” laughed Ron, “’bout that, can you check my transformation essay? I don’t know if I got everything right”.

“Sure, but I don’t finish it again” warned Hermione.

“Yeah, don’t worry, it’s already done, by the way, did you hear about Fred and George new idea to enter the tournament? If it’s worked I hope they will tell me how to do it too, I really wanna be a champion!” said Ron excitedly.

“No Ronald I did not hear their last idea, are you aware of the danger of the tournament? I cannot believe Dumbledore decided to organize it again! I am glad Harry and you are too young to participate, at least you wouldn’t be in danger for once!” responded Hermione.

“But the winner of the tournament got an eternal glory! Can you imagine? Everyone will know my name, just like Harry!”

“Ron! How could say something like that? You know Harry hates the attention he got!” chastised the brunette.

“Sure, didn’t hear him complained about it when McGonagall let him play in the Quidditch house team in our first year” muttered Ron, seeing the anger in Hermione’s eyes, he decided to change the subject “anyway, it’s almost noon, let’s go eat!”.

They put their things in their bags and headed toward the great hall. While Ron chatted away about Quidditch, Hermione replayed their conversations, she finds his behavior more and more weird lately, he was always talking about the tournament and the “glory” it could give to the winner and often making snarky remarks about Harry’s fame. She had known for a while that Ron was jealous about it, but he was usually doing a better job at hiding it.

The consequences of his conduct were that their trio wasn’t as close as they once have been. Hermione preferred spending her time reading or with Harry or Ginny, while the latter often found themselves playing Quidditch or hang out with the twins if they weren’t in the library with her. She and Harry had gotten closer to the youngest Weasley during the summer, Ginny proved to be a good friend and was starting to surpass her shyness in Harry’s presence and spend more time with them in result.

However, Hermione was rather sad about the strain in the trio relationship, Harry and Ron was her first friends and she wanted things to remain the same. She told Fleur about it, the French witch reassured her and told her it was probably just a phase, and Ron would soon overcome his jealousy.

She wonders what Fleur was thinking about the tournament, she always forgot to ask her. Hermione only hoped that the French witch didn’t want to participate, she was off age after all and with her knowledge and her ease at practicing magic she would make a redoubtable opponent.  

They arrived in the great hall at the same time as Harry, Ginny and the twins. They spend the lunch talking about courses and the next Hogsmeade trip, which happened to be the next day. Ron proposed that they all go together, as it’s been a while since they do something else than just studying. Having finished all their work, they all enthusiastically agreed.

“Hey ‘Mione, once we will be at Hogsmeade do you mind accompany me to buy a new quill?” asked Ron.

“No, I need another one anyway” agreed Hermione.

                                                                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The rest of the day passed quickly, and Hermione found herself in her dorm talking to Ginny.

“Do you know that, at Beauxbatons, students can go home one weekend a month?” Exclaimed Hermione, having just finished Fleur’s last letter which arrived during dinner.

“Nope, but glad to know you still talking to your stunningly beautiful French witch” teased Ginny, a gleam in her eyes.

“Fleur’s not mine, we’re friends!” stuttered Hermione, blushing furiously.

“I know I was just teasing you. But honestly, if she was attending Hogwarts, you would like her to be more, no?” asked the red headed girl.

“What? No! I mean, I, I’m not interested… Yes, she is really smart and nice and caring and… Oh, shut it” said Hermione, throwing a pillow at her laughing friend, “she is not here and even if she was, why would she accept to go out with me? I’m just plain old Hermione! Plus, she is two years older than me!”

“First, you really need to stop having such a low opinion about yourself, anyone who’ll be dating would be really lucky, and secondly, it’s two years not ten!”

“Huff, whatever, even if she was here I wouldn’t try anything, she is the very first person that I have ever met who share similar interests with me and she doesn’t even mind my rambling about studies! I want to stay friends with her” responded Hermione.

“Whatever you say ‘Mione, but if she come for the tournament I’m pretty sure you would reverse that decision really quickly” laughed Ginny.

“Merlin! I hope she doesn’t want to participate, I don’t want her to get hurt” worried Hermione.

“Don’t worry, if she is really this smart she would have no problem avoiding danger!” reassured Ginny.

They stay in silence for a while, till’ a thought crept up in Hermione’s mind “So… You don’t mind that?”

“Mind what?” asked the younger girl, puzzled.

“Me fancying a girl?” responded Hermione shyly. She never talks about being gay with anyone, it wasn’t extremely accepted in the muggle world, she didn’t even know if her parents would be okay with it.

“Of course, I don’t mind! Why would I?” said Ginny.

“Well, it’s not really accepting in the Muggle world you know, I didn’t know how you would react to the news…” trailed off Hermione, looking at her lap, eyes watering.

“I don’t care if you fancy a girl ‘Mione, you have the right to date whomever you want!” exclaimed Ginny. Seeing her friend’s distress, she gets up and hugged the older girl “Plus, you fancying girls means you don’t want to date Harry” joked the red headed girl.

“Ew no! He is like my brother”, said Hermione. She wiped her eyes and hugged the young girl back “thank you, it means a lot to me”.

“There’s nothing to thank for, wizards don’t have a problem with gay people, you can marry, and we even have ways who allowed you to have children if you want them! Really, you have nothing to worry about.” Reassured Ginny “Well, you may want to wait till’ Ron’s crush on you stop before telling him but otherwise no one will tell you anything!”.

“Ron WHAT on me?” exclaimed Hermione.

 “Oh my, ‘Mione, don’t tell me you didn’t notice? Why do you think he asked you to go buy a quill with him? He just wants to have you alone, like if you two were on a date!” said Ginny.

“No, I didn’t! I just think he wanted my help or something….” Responded the brunette,” what should I do? I mean I don’t want him getting the wrong ideas! Perhaps I can ask Harry to come with us?” asked Hermione.

“Oh, I don’t think that is a good idea, Ron already thinks you have a crush on Harry, if he comes with you Ron will be a git again” explained the younger girl.

“Where on earth did he come with that idea? He knows I considered Harry as my brother!”

“Dunno, but that’s what he says to Bill this summer, this is also because of that he is such a git toward Harry recently, and when he wanted to find a way to be part of the tournament? The twins told me he wanted to do that to impress you”. Explained Ginny.

 “By getting himself killed? I would be impressed by his stupidity that’s for sure!” replied Hermione “I can’t believe this is why he was behaving like that!”.

“Well, Ron isn’t known to have normal reaction when something bothering him” said Ginny.

“Huff, thank you for telling me, I will speak to him tomorrow”

“You’re welcome, go easy on him though, it’s not simple to have a crush on someone who doesn’t share you feelings” replied the young girl.

“Don’t worry about that, god I can’t believe I didn’t see anything!” said the brunette.

“Guess you can be thick too when you are concerned” chuckled Ginny “anyway, I’m sorry, but I’m exhausted, I’m going to sleep, night ‘Mione!”

“Night Ginny, thanks again” replied the brunette “and I’m not that thick!”

Once in bed, Hermione continues thinking about their conversation, she was feeling guilty not noticing Ron’s crush on her. She was always blaming him to not paying enough attention to other peoples’ feelings, but she had done the exact same thing. She was hoping he wouldn’t react too badly when she will tell him about her.

Also, she was wondering about her feelings toward a certain Veela, how come she could already feel such a connection with someone she met two months ago and for less than a day? She had the impression that she knew the girl for way longer than that. Yes, they often wrote to each other, but still, usually she didn’t connect with other people that fast and especially without talking to them face to face.

It was very confusing! And, she didn’t tell Ginny, but she felt oddly sometimes, like she was feeling someone else emotions, it didn’t happen often but enough for her to notice it. Every time she tried to focus on it, she got headaches. She did some research in the library, but she found nothing which could explain that kind of phenomenon, wizards don’t share mental connection except if they practiced legilimency, or if they had been cursed but that wasn’t her case. She decided to wait before talking to someone about it, maybe she was just imagining it.

She thrashed in her bed for quite some time before finally falling asleep, mind preoccupied by the French witch.

                                                                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hermione woke up with a headache and took some potion in order to calm it. She joined the others in the great hall for breakfast before they headed to Hogsmeade. Now that Ginny informed her about Ron she caught him often staring at her. Despite what she said to the young girl she didn’t know how to tell him that she wasn’t interested at going out with him, he was one of her best friends and she didn’t want to hurt him.

She decided to delay that particular conversation at a later point, but unfortunately, Ron cornered her in the three broomsticks when they stop there to have lunch.

“Hey ‘Mione! So, I was thinking, maybe after lunch we can go to Zonko? you know just the two of us” asked Ron fidgeting with the hem of his sweater.

“Only the two of us?” God, she really sucked at this kind of thing, think Hermione.

“Huh, yeah, you know it’s been a while since we’re friends and, well, see I was thinking that maybe we could be… More?” asked Ron hopefully.

“Ron I am so sorry, I love you, but as my best friend, not more, see I’m… I, I am gay, I like girls” stammered Hermione.

His eyes bulged open and he frowned “Wait, you what? Why you never said anything?”

“I am gay, I know it for a while, but I was afraid of your reaction, that is why I said nothing… Please don’t be mad at me”, explained Hermione, she was starting crying, god she didn’t know what she would do if Ron rejected her...

To her great surprised Ron burst out laughing, “mad at you? But ‘Mione I’ve got no reason to! I mean, yeah that sucked you don’t like me back, but I prefer the idea of you liking girls instead of you being in love with some other dude! Not that you’re not allowed to huh”

He didn’t have the time to finish his sentence, Hermione had engulfed him into a bone crushing hug “thank you Ron, I was so sure you would have been furious, or you wouldn’t want to understand and threw a fist”.

“Ha, I admit I’m not the most comprehensive person in the world, but come on, how by Merlin name could have been mad at you for this? You don’t choose who you fell in love with! Anyway, I have no problem with that. Do you know Charlie is gay too? He didn’t say it to mum yet, but he is, and I don’t care”. Said Ron “now can you let me go I can’t breathe”

“Sorry”, said Hermione while releasing him and wiping her tears, “thank you, you really are a good friend Ron, I am sorry for misjudging you like that”

“No problem, so…. Can we go to Zonko anyway? I really want to buy some candies!” cheekily asked Ron.

“Weasley and their stomachs I swear!” replied Hermione “okay, but you have to promise me to give up on your idea to participate in the tournament!”

“You picked up on that, huh, you’re right, I should let this idea go, like you said, people died in it!” said Ron, “and, just to be sure, you never had fancied Harry?”

“No, Ron I’ve never, he is like a brother to me, maybe now you can let go the comments on his fame?” frowned Hermione.

Ron passed his hand through his hair and sighed “yeah, I haven’t been a great friend to him, lately have I?”

“Not really, but you still have time to correct this, I know Harry missed spending time with you”

“With the three of us you mean, I would be a better friend I promised you that” said Ron.

“Yeah, the three of us should definitely hang out more” smiled Hermione “let’s go back to the other before they think we killed each other”

Ron laughed at that and threw an arm around her shoulder, “I might say, I was kinda afraid of that when I asked you out, you have a temper too”.

 Hermione swatted him in the back of the head “prat!”

The rest of the visit was spent in a good mood, and Hermione spotted the boys talking to each other in Zonko, their conversation ended with a hug. Once they get back to the common room, Harry took Hermione aside.

“Ron apologies for his previous behavior, he said that he thought you liked me, so he was jealous and was acting like a prat” said Harry.

“Ha yeah, he asked me out, but I said no, I told him that he was my best friend and that I never liked you like that, you are like my brother” responded Hermione.

“You’re like my sister too ’Mione” grinned Harry “but tell me, Ron didn’t say much except you said no and that, I’m kinda surprised he didn’t throw a fist”.

Hermione took a deep breathe before answering, “It is because I told him I wasn’t interested in any boys and… That I never will be”.

“Oh, you are gay?” Hermione nodded “well, that’s fine by me”, said Harry beaming and hugging her, “Ron did mention you were afraid of telling us something, it was that? Then you don’t have to worry, I’m cool with it”.

“Thank you Harry!” said Hermione, hugging him back “it means a lot”

“You’re welcome! So… Did any girl pick your interest?” cheekily asked Harry “let’s say… A blond French witch to whom you write a lot?”

“Not you too! We are just friends! She didn’t even live in England” grumbled Hermione.

“I’m kidding, but whomever you decide to date, know she would have to go threw my brother talk, I want only the best for my sister!” replied Harry.

She swatted his arm “You wouldn’t dare!” said Hermione.

“I will!” laughed Harry while they joined the others to have dinner in the great hall.

During the dinner, Dumbledore made an announcement, the schools who will compete in the tournament are supposed to arrive the next Friday, which meant that classes will end one hour early.

“Good! Snape won’t have the opportunity to poison us!” exclaimed Ron.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That night Hermione had the best sleep she had in weeks, telling her friends about her had really lifted a weight on her shoulders she didn’t even realized she was carrying. She had also noted, while she was talking to them, that the strange emotions were back. But this time, she felt them better, it was like the person or whatever it belonged to was worrying. She really wonders what that means. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, still no direct interaction between Hermione and Fleur in this chapter, that will be for the next one! 
> 
> I added the parts where the golden trio was a little bit distant with each other right now instead of when Harry will be a champion for the tournament ‘cause I always hated this part where Ron turned his back on Harry. I always think that a better communication between the two wouldn't lead them in the same place. He will still react poorly to the situation, but much less than in the book.
> 
> So I hope you like this chapter, action will (finally) start in the next one! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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